This blog is for all the people who say they want to meditate, but never seem to find the time to do it. It’s for all of you who plan to meditate first thing tomorrow morning, but blow it off when the alarm rings. It’s for everyone who feels they can’t find 15 spare minutes a day.

Least I Could Do Challenge Update

What I learned in week one (3 min.):

Episode 16: More info on habit creation

Listen to the podcast:

Or, read the blog:

Two years ago, I bought myself an ukulele. I figured it would be fun to play and it would be a way to relax and relieve stress. So far, I’ve wracked up a total of about 2 hours of playing time. I haven’t touched the thing in well over nine months.

I often wonder why I’m behaving this way. I do have fun playing, even though I play very badly. And, I always enjoy learning new things. And, I certainly have time. Yet, I just don’t do it. I think it may be because it feels like I’d have to put in a lot of time and effort to make any real progress. It’s just too easy to skip something that doesn’t seem to get me anywhere.

For some people, creating a meditation habit poses the same challenge.

If it’s difficult for you to find 15 minutes to meditate, then you’ll perceive meditation as something that’s impossible to commit to. You know the benefits come with long term practice, so each time you skip a practice, you feel like you’re never going to make it. You feel like you’ve let yourself down and you’re not making progress.

The fix is not to “strengthen your resolve”, or “try harder”, or “have some willpower”, or force yourself to “just do it”. No, the trick is to lower the bar. Commit to doing the least you could do.

What’s the least you could do? I’d say it’s meditate for just five minutes per day.

No, this is not method for tricking yourself into doing more

You aren’t going to do five minutes hoping that it will inspire you to keep going for another 10. You’re just going to do five minutes. That’s it.

Why is this effective?

It works, because it’s easy to commit to and easy to do. Every time you do it, you’ll feel like you’ve made progress, you’ve accomplished something, you’re successful. And you really will have accomplished something. Even a few mindful breaths a day can bring benefits. And that will make it easier to do again tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that.

The Least I Could Do Challenge

I want to challenge you to do the least you could do: Meditate for five minutes every day.

Below, you’ll find several five-minute guided meditations. I’ll also post these on the Free Meditations page so you can find them easily, later.

For my part, I’m going to learn the ukulele in just five minutes per day. For the record, here’s what I sound like today.

Okay, I suck, but at least I tuned the ukulele, first!

We can celebrate our successes on Twitter, too. Just use hashtag, #LeastICouldDo

Periodically, I’ll post updated recordings of my progress on this page. And, you can post updates of your progress in the comment section, below.

Some five-minute meditations for you to try

The following is a five-minute guided meditation on the breath

The following is a five-minute guided meditation using the counting method

The following is a five-minute guided meditation using the 4 Calming Breaths